And They're Off....

That's me in that sea of people there about to begin my first 10K. I did it!! It was a very warm 70 degrees here in Atlanta today, there were more hills than I had anticipated on this course, but I finished it. I was exhausted by the end and my time was not what I had been hoping for (1:16), but I had a great time and learned some valuable lessons for next year...like dont let the excitement overwhelm you and start out WAY too fast the first 2 miles, train for those hills, and find a way to focus even when running amidst a crowd of people. When I run solo, I often feel peaceful, focused and "in the zone". I had a really difficult time doing that today with so many other people running alongside me.



All in all though, I had a great day topped off by accompanying my daughter and a neighbor and her daughter to the Justin Bieber movie, ha, ha!! In his defense I do have to say he is a talented kid who seems to have been raised well. He seems like a genuinely nice boy. I hope he can stay the course and not get swallowed up by the fame at such a young age.

P.S. There's a little camel-toe going on in that last picture that I thought some of you might enjoy..wink, wink.

New Directions

Jay and I have decided that we have come to the conclusion of one facet of our odyssey of sexual exploration. We have agreed that we will no longer invite a 3rd party into our sex life. It was a scintillating idea for a time. However, of the 5 encounters we had over the past 3 years, one was so horrible I still wish I could undo it, another was unenjoyable for me and fraught with jealousy for Jay, two were actually fun and satisfying, while the 5th was hot, satisfying for me and very confusing all at the same time.

In general, I believe neither of us have ever been 100% comfortable with the idea, but each agreed to try it for our own reasons. My reasons centered around a desire to revive a failing sex drive, pleasing Jay and replacing something I had lost. He may wish to speak for himself later, but I think Jay's reasons revolved around wanting to try something new, and the simple pleasure of watching his wife have sex. He got to enjoy his own live action porn scene with his wife as the star.

It's a difficult thing to pull off. There were jealousy issues, there were hurt feelings, there were guilty and even shameful feelings for me. The small payoffs we got were not worth all of the angst that went along with it. This sort of play just never felt comfortable for me, nor truth be told, do I think if felt comfortable for Jay. I found it often unnerving and akward to engage in sexual relations with another man in front of my husband. While I did derive sexual pleasure from some of our encounters, my overriding emotion surrounding it all was shame. I can't get past the societal mores that teach me such behavior is wrong, even taboo.

It is my personal belief that intimacy between 2 people will eventually suffer if this is an ongoing lifestyle. I know there are those out there blogging away about their success and enjoyment of some variation of this "open" lifestyle. I think there are indeed a handful of couples out there for whom this works well. If it works for you, I say, embrace it and enjoy it! For Jay and me, it was not the answer.

This is certainly not to say we are returning to a simple "vanilla" sex life. I still long to be dominated, controlled, treated like his cherished little "pet." I have discovered I am more of a spank me, choke me, tie me up kind of sub than an objectify me and share me with others sub. I have found my limits the hard way it seems.